What began as an idea two years ago has blossomed into an annual event. The 2nd annual GEMS Day of Service was held on May 17th. The day of service was established by student leaders in our Cultivating Pathways to Sustainability group. Students in the group have been working with staff members from Shelburne Farms to learn about the UN Sustainable Development goals and how they can help to meet the needs of their communities.
This year the GEMS Day of Service expanded beyond our local school community, allowing for students to volunteer at the local food shelf. Students were welcomed by NorthWest Family Foods and spent the morning stocking shelves and bagging pet food to support local families. Thank you to Toni at NorthWest Family Foods for your continued partnership and to the school community for generously donating 30 boxes full of items for the food shelf.
Services projects were also completed on our school grounds, Students built birdhouses, planted flowers, cleaned up nature classroom space, and painted rocks to spruce up our outdoor areas. Be sure to check out the beautiful flower beds by our front entrance and the GEMS sign as you drive by our school or look for one of our newly constructed birdhouses as you walk along the path.
The number of students who participated in this year’s day of service grew to almost 70 elementary and middle schoolers from across the building. We were also lucky enough to welcome back one of our Cultivating Pathways members who graduated last year to help lead a service project. The weather was certainly not on our side, as a few snowflakes fell, but students enjoyed giving back to their community.
Our hope is that the number of students participating in service projects will continue to grow each year.
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Thank you to our contributor, Karen Lehning!
Georgia Elementary & Middle School
Director of Teaching & Learning
My Twitter handle: @klehning02